Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier basked in the glory of a triumphant European night and insisted that his death threat shock had not changed how he felt about the club, its fans or the city itself.

After goals in the first 11 minutes from Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen had been cancelled out by strikes from Georgi Ivanov and Sasa Simonovic, Dietmar Hamann headed the Reds in front just before the break.

A 67th-minute header from Sami Hyypia wrapped up the scoring to ease some of the pressure on Houllier. It was revealed on Tuesday the Liverpool manager had received a written death threat three weeks ago but he refused to let that, and vile graffiti painted on the wall of the club's Melwood training complex, cloud his opinion of fans.

Speaking publicly for the first time about the threat Houllier said: "I did not tell anyone about it because I did not want anyone to worry.

"Not even Rick Parry and the chairman David Moores knew. But what has happened does not affect my love for the city and my affection for the team and the fans.

"Those fans, 2,000 of them, travelled here to support us and they were fantastic. Their voice was heard. What has happened does not affect my passion for my job or my enthusiasm for it.

"The fans have been fantastic, the vast majority of them know what we are doing and they know what a difficult season it has been with injuries."

Owen, who scored for the first time in five matches, said despite Levski scoring twice the players were never concerned about the outcome.

"We got off to a great start - and even though they gave us a fright, those away goals really killed them," he said.

"We were always confident we were going to qualify, and when Didi scored just before half-time it meant they had to score four. I've never seen a side score four in the second half against Liverpool, and it would have been a miracle if they had done that."

Houllier paid tribute to Owen - who scored his first goal in five matches - and the Reds' travelling support.

"I was pleased because Michael was great today. He worked extremely well for the team. He is not only a star player; he is a team player," said the Frenchman.

"I said before the game that Michael would score. It was a very important goal and that should help him.

"He had an outstanding game, he was able to drop deep into the middle to get the ball and make telling passes."

Liverpool have responded to the FA Cup defeat at Portsmouth that brought so much criticism for Houllier by scoring six goals in two legs against Levski, and drawing a difficult away game at Leeds.

They are now in the last 16 of a European trophy.

And if they win their league match in hand they will re-capture fourth spot.